Elianne
by AnnieBrodieSangster
Summary: Scorpius has Lavinia, a girlfriend who adores him. He has Rose, a best friend like no other. And he has a wonderful, caring family, albeit slightly old fashioned in their views on blood. And he's doing great at school. But his feelings for his girlfriend and his friend are completely the wrong way around. And then he meets Elianne. Things just got very complicated. SM/RW
1. Saturday, October 31st

_Fourth year_

_Saturday, October 31__st__ (Halloween)_

Scorpius took in the great hall with admiration and wonder. The decorating committee had outdone themselves with this year's Halloween dance decorations. The traditional pumpkins floated in the air above his head, rotating slowly. However, a new and ingenious addition to the pumpkins was a small hole, no more than four centimetres each way, slowly pouring some kind of punch into beautiful crystal bowls which hovered below.

Jars full of all different coloured flames – Scorpius saw a deep blue, a fiery red and a calm purple, among them – covered the tables and floated in the air, and were even on the floor in some places.

A stage had been set up at the end of the hall with the teachers' seats – which had obviously been moved – where the Weird Sisters had already launched into their first song, _Do The Hippogriff_.

Lavinia Bones clung tightly to Scorpius' arm as they navigated through the swirling mass of dancers to one of the glass bowls. As Scorpius filled a cup for Lavinia and himself, he took in her appearance. Her long, black, usually stick-straight hair had been curled and fell lightly over one tanned shoulder. The dress she wore – a floor-length, dark purple evening gown – accentuated her body in all the right places and complimented her beautifully. To him, she had never been prettier.

But then, she had never really been _anything_ to him, not really. He'd barely noticed her; the shy little Slytherin who never seemed to really belong to the conniving, scheming house of snakes. Apparently, though, she had noticed him, and thought of little else since. And finally, after almost two years of infatuation, she had achieved her goal of going on a date with Scorpius Malfoy.

Worried her companion would be whisked away by another girl, she held on to him possessively all night, always keeping him nearby, and always in sight. Scorpius either didn't realise how apprehensive she was or didn't care, for he acted perfectly natural, hardly batting an eyelash when she insisted on accompanying him as far as the door to the bathroom, when he needed to relieve himself.

Still, she couldn't help but feel he wasn't quite as interested in her as she was in him. She knew that there was no chance he had been mooning over her for as long as she had him, anyway.

Lavinia sipped her drink and batted her eyelashes at Scorpius, who smiled at her.

"Let's dance," she said, dropping her cup back into the bowl and leading him into the throng of bodies. He gingerly placed one hand on her hip and one on her shoulder as the Weird Sisters launched into a slow, waltz-like song. Lavinia hadn't heard it before, and guessed it was from one of their new albums. She didn't really pay much attention to music; her time was taken up with schoolwork, friends and, of course, Scorpius.

The night seemed to fly past and soon, much sooner than she would have liked, they were leaving the great hall.

"Aren't you going to walk me back?" she asked as he began to bid her goodbye at the entrance to the great hall.

Scorpius bit his lip, clearly having an internal argument. "I would, I _should_," he said. "But I just saw Deamon over there, and I should go and make sure he's okay."

Though disappointed, Lavinia felt proud that Scorpius was so loyal to his friends. It must be hard for Deamon to see Scorpius with her; his girlfriend of almost three years had broken up with him a week before the dance, and now he was here alone. "Of course," she said, lightly running a hand down his arm. "I'll miss you."

Scorpius nodded distractedly, glancing back over his shoulder at Deamon. Lavinia sighed. She was losing him, and to _Deamon_.

In a sudden burst of confidence, she reached up and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did so. She felt Scorpius jump in surprise, but then he put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. She sighed happily into his mouth but then Scorpius pulled away, an expression close to annoyance on his face. It was there for just a fleeting moment, then replaced with a radiant smile. "I should take you back, shouldn't I?" he said, catching her hand between his. It felt warm and dry and _right_.

Lavinia nodded. "It's what a gentleman would do," she said, knowing he couldn't disagree with that. So they strolled happily back to the dungeons.

When they arrived outside Lavinia's dormitory, she hoped that he would kiss her again, but instead he glanced at his watch, a troubled expression on his face. "I must go and see Deamon now," he said seriously. "He needs me."

"Your allegiance to your friends is very… Inspiring," she said, looking up at him with adoration on her face. Surely he wouldn't just… leave? Without kissing her goodnight?

Scorpius wrapped her in a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Goodnight, Lavinia," he whispered, before striding back out of the dungeons. Lavinia collapsed against the door and sighed wistfully.

There was a lot further to go yet, but she had made a lot of progress tonight. She allowed herself a small smile as she entered her dormitory and fell onto her bed, the ghost of their kiss still on her lips.

When Scorpius arrived back at the great hall, at first he couldn't see Deamon anywhere. Looking around the area he had last seen him moping, Scorpius finally spotted him at the side of the hall. He wasn't alone, though.

Scorpius looked away quickly from his best friend, who was currently entwined in a passionate embrace with none other than his ex-girlfriend, Skye Edgecombe. Knowing he would have plenty of time tomorrow to tell him why getting involved with her again was a bad idea, Scorpius left them to it and went to get a drink.

To be honest, he was slightly relieved to have had a reason to leave Lavinia. He was sure that were it not for Deamon, she would have found a way to keep him there all night. Still, that kiss was certainly something…

Scorpius had been unsure about whether she was his type, but it couldn't hurt to give the relationship a go, especially when she seemed to adore him so. And that kiss had certainly been something…

His musings were interrupted when a tall, brown-haired boy crashed into him, sending Scorpius – and his drink – crashing to the floor. "Woah, sorry," the boy cried, before taking off again with a cry of, "You'll pay for that one, Rose!"

Watching them go with amusement, Scorpius got back to his feet and brushed the non-existent dust from his robes. A few minutes later, a girl about his age with long curls of stunning red hair ran up to him, breathless, her face flushed with happiness and exertion. "Sorry about that!" she exclaimed. "Hugo's really clumsy, especially when he's had a bit to drink," the girl he assumed must be Rose winked conspiratorially at him.

He frowned. "There's no alcohol at the party…" he said slowly.

"In the punch bowl over there, there is," she said, gesturing vaguely with her small, pale hand. Then she held it out to him. "Rose Weasley," she said, giving his hand a shake and doing a mock curtsey. "And you would be?"

Scorpius' eyes widened slightly. So this was Rose, the Gryffindor daughter of Ron and Hermione. And the boy who had bumped into him, Hugo, must have been her brother in year two or three. He was tall, for a boy of no more than thirteen. Not taller than him, but still tall. He knew their parents had played a big part in taking down You-Know-Who, and his father hadn't really gotten along with them in school, but he made a split-second decision _not_ to hold them accountable for any pain Ron and Hermione may have inflicted upon Draco – physically or emotionally.

"Scorpius," he told her. "Scorpius Malfoy." He waited for the inevitable shock as she, as he had, put two and two together. Her eyes widened slightly but she, like he, decided not to let that influence her opinion of him.

She grinned at him. "It's nice to meet you, Scorpius," she said sincerely. "I'm sure we'll see each other again soon."

"I look forward to it," he replied, winking playfully. And with that, the redheaded daughter of his father's enemies ran off back to her brother. He watched her go, feeling happier than he had all night.


	2. Sunday, November 1st

**A/N: Couple of days late, sorry. Reviews welcome :)**

_Sunday, November 1__st_

Scorpius didn't see Rose again for the rest of the dance, instead retiring to his bed after he saw Deamon was happy. Nor did he see a need to. He had met her briefly at a school dance after her brother had accidentally knocked him over. They had exchanged pleasantries, then left. Hardly a memorable meeting that would warrant further analysing.

His plate was pretty full with everything else, anyway. Scorpius had berated Deamon for kissing Skye early Saturday morning, not that it had seemed to make any difference, and merely resulted in a bitter fight and Scorpius feeling rather depressed.

"_Morning, Deamon," Scorpius shook his friend awake. Deamon looked up at him, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "I saw you had an exciting night." _

_Deamon narrowed his eyes at Scorpius as he sat up. "What did you see?" he asked warily._

_Sitting opposite Deamon on his own bed, Scorpius shook his head sadly. "What _didn't_ I see?" he said._

"_If you could stop being a cryptic arse and just tell me what you saw, I'd really appreciate it, Malfoy," Deamon snapped. Scorpius sensed that he had guessed what he'd seen, but that there was more to it._

_That things had gone wrong, afterwards. "What happened?" Scorpius asked, his tone softening. _

_Deamon let his head fall into his hands. "She only went and rejected me again, didn't she?" he said, a pathetic note of despair in his voice that made the Hufflepuff side of Scorpius' mind want to wrap him up in bubble wrap and never let him leave the safety of their dorm room. _

_Scorpius often thought like that – of different parts of his brain belonging in different houses. That was how it worked, right? Everyone had aspects of them all, and the Sorting Hat just found the most prominent one and put them in that house. Scorpius' largest qualities were his ruthless determination and pride, so here he was, in Slytherin._

"_We were kissing, and it was amazing, and I was thinking, 'maybe she's changed her mind. Maybe she does still love me,' and I was so happy."_

"_Are you sure she wasn't so drunk she hadn't realised it was you?" Scorpius asked, realising too late that was not the kind of thing Deamon needed to hear right now. _

_Deamon shook his head, hard. "No, she definitely knew it was me. _Definitely._ We had that passion like we did at the very beginning, three years ago. It was amazing. And then…" he choked back a sob and collapsed back into the bed, staring at the ceiling. "And then I told her that- that-" he burst into a wave of fresh tears while Scorpius sat there, feeling helpless._

"_What happened, Deam?" he asked gently. "What did you tell her?"_

_He turned and looked Scorpius dead in the eyes, the sorrow apparent even without the tears glistening on his pale cheeks. "I told her that I would forgive her for ending things, and I would be willing to take her back."_

_Scorpius winced. Skye was an extremely independent girl and would _not _have taken kindly to Deamon 'forgiving' her for leaving him, when she had made no indication she even wanted to get back together. Except for the kiss, but that wasn't concrete evidence. Deamon shouldn't have been so blunt. But like all Notts, he spoke first and regretted it later. "What did she say to that?" he asked. _

"_What do you think?" he laughed bitterly. "She slapped me and said ending it was the best decision she ever made, and was sticking by it. It felt like someone had stuck a thousand knives into my heart, wiggled them around a bit, then pulled them back out, dripping with blood. That's how I felt, and how I still feel, and I think I'll feel like that for the rest of my life."_

_Deamon rolled over to face the wall, indicating he was tired of conversing. Scorpius had never been one to pick up on hints, though. "Listen, mate, it'll get better," he said. "Besides," he forced himself to chuckle. "It can't be as bad as getting hit in the crotch by a bludger, huh?" _

_The joke was meant to be a reassuring pick-me-up, but his laugh had sounded fake and Deamon clearly didn't appreciate it. "You don't _know_, Scorpius," he retorted suddenly. "You've never been in love. You've never had a girlfriend. You don't know how it feels so you can't lecture me, okay? So maybe when you find someone who is actually attracted to you and then breaks your heart into a million tiny pieces, I'll take you seriously. But until then, don't expect me to treat it like golden advice. Got it?" Scorpius sat there, a bit stunned at the outburst. _

_Sure, he wasn't the biggest relationship expert, but he was just trying to _help_. Was it a crime to try to cheer your best friend up when he was depressed? Maybe it wasn't "golden advice", but he'd done the best he could. The relationship thing was a low blow, and Scorpius felt the blood boil in his veins. He stood up, his fists clenched in anger and resentment. _

"_Fine," he bit back. "While you lie around here moping all weekend, I'm going to go and see Lavinia. That's right, a girl who _is_ interested in me. Maybe _I_ can actually keep this one." Then he stormed out of the room, hating himself with every step. _

And so of course after that, Scorpius had gone and knocked on Lavinia's door. She had been thrilled to see him, and they had gone to get breakfast together. Rose hadn't come down to breakfast. Not that he had been looking for her, of course. He'd just… noticed. He didn't _really_ care about that Gryffindor girl.

A couple of hours later, after a stroll around the castle grounds, and Lavinia was now his girlfriend. He was in two minds about returning to the dorm – on the one hand, he needed to apologise to Deamon. They had both been out of order, but Deamon was suffering. He had an excuse. Scorpius had just added salt to the wound. But there was a part of him – the Slytherin part, he thought – that wanted to parade Lavinia in front of him and show her off, prove Deamon wrong. It was that part that wanted to be the best, that was determined to be the winner. He wanted to prove Deamon wrong, even though he had been right at the time.

That didn't make it any kinder, though. Scorpius had never had a girlfriend, but that didn't mean there hadn't been offers. He'd just been… waiting. Waiting until he was older? Yes. Waiting for the right girl? Partly. But did he think Lavinia was the right girl?

Scorpius faltered mid-step. What _had_ made him ask Lavinia to the Halloween ball? He had known she was interested – he would have to be blind to miss her tactless advances – but he wouldn't really say he was interested in _her_, particularly. Sure she was pretty, with her long, dark hair that sometimes looked black and sometimes brown, her almond-shaped, hazel-coloured eyes, her smooth, tanned skin… He would even go so far as to say she was beautiful. But he had just never been interested, and right now he wasn't sure why. She was everything people looked for in a girlfriend – sweet and smart and adoring and beautiful – and Merlin knows his parents would more than approve of her.

But he had never been interested in any girls, so why should she had been any different? The point was, he was interested now, and here she was. Ready and waiting. Lavinia put a hand on his am, and he realised he had stopped walking as he pondered all of this. He blinked and started walking again, smiling at her. She frowned slightly, then let it go. "I'd better go and check on Deamon, but do you want to have lunch later?" Scorpiuse asked her as they reached the Slytherin common room.

She bit her lip as they stood awkwardly outside the entrance. "I would love to, but I promised Essie we could do our Astronomy homework together. We can have dinner together, though?" Lavinia grabbed his hand and swung it idly. Scorpius nodded.

"Yeah, sure," he said, trying to ignore the fact that if Deamon was still mad, he would have nobody to sit next to at lunch. Scorpius pulled Lavinia into a one-armed hug, his other hand on the stone wall next to them. "See you later," he said, kissing her forehead and pushing her away playfully. And to the wall: "Severus Snape," the passage was revealed and he went through to the common room. As he arrived in the common room, Essie went past him, he guessed to meet Lavinia.

It was time to go and make up with Deamon, and then to have a stern word with Skye.


	3. Sunday, November 1st Part Two

**A/N: this chapter's a bit longer than normal, but next week's is shorter.**

_3 - Sunday, November 1__st__ (Part Two)_

"Deamon?"

Scorpius entered their dorm room cautiously, wondering if Deamon would throw something at him. It wouldn't be the first time. He heard mumbling from inside Deamon's bed – which had the rich green hanging curtains pulled round – and took it as a sign he was safe to enter. "You okay, buddy?" he asked tentatively. He sat down on his bed, but made no move to open the curtains. Deamon liked his privacy, and Scorpius appreciated that.

"What do you want?" Deamon mumbled from inside his bed. Scorpius could not see his expression, and so had no idea if he was still mad, still sad, or just tired.

Scorpius sighed and fought back to urge to open the curtains. "I'm just worried about you, Deamon," he said softly. "And I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean it, I was just mad. And I didn't want you to make the mistake of going back to Skye." To his surprise, the curtains were pulled back at that moment.

Deamon sat inside glaring at him, his expression fiercer than Scorpius had ever seen. And, to Scorpius' horror, sat next to him on the bed was… Skye.

He felt his normally pale cheeks flush red with embarrassment. "Oh, Merlin," he grumbled, before all hell exploded.

Deamon and Skye both leapt up from the bed at the same time, yelling. "Scorpius!" Deamon shouted. "You- you're _sorry_? That's all you can say? And why were _you_ mad? I was the one who should have been mad, you had no right to be! Why did it take you this _long_ to come and apologise, anyway!?"

At the same time, Skye was shouting. "What the _hell_, Malfoy? 'Make the mistake of going back to Skye'? How am I a mistake! Deamon is old enough to take care of himself, and so am I, and I don't think we need _your _input on our relationship, which is none of your business, thank you very much! You can't make him stay away from me if he doesn't want to, and why should he? What's wrong with me?" Skye was practically screaming now, and Scorpius edged backwards, his hands held up defensively.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said, once they had both finished yelling. "Deamon, I know I should have come earlier but I was out with-" he realised mentioning Lavinia wouldn't help. "With someone, and I couldn't really leave. And I didn't know what to say. I _still_ don't know what to say. And Skye," he turned toward the fuming blonde, whose hands were on her hips and whose angry eyes were fixed on Scorpius. "I'm sorry, but it kind of _is_ my business because Deamon-" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Deamon is my best friend, and I don't want to see him get hurt by you – _again_, I might add. No self-respecting friend would stand by and _watch_ him do something we both know is a mistake. He got involved with you again yesterday and we all know how _that_ ended. All that's going to happen now is you will hurt him again, and I can't let that happen!"

Deamon sat back down on his bed and sighed heavily. Skye sat next to him – so close their legs were touching, Scorpius noticed with narrowed eyes – and rubbed his arm soothingly. Scorpius had to admit, in that moment, they seemed like a perfect match. But that's what he'd thought before, until everything went pear-shaped.

Scorpius turned and studied the floor, not wanting to interrupt them, even though he still thought it was a bad idea. He picked at his nails for a while, until he eventually summoned the courage to look back up. Skye had her back against the wall with Deamon in front of her, and they were kissing frantically. Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Let's see how long _this_ lasts," he muttered, before quietly exiting the room. So Deamon wanted to ignore his well-intentioned advice? Fine. He knew he was right, and would just wait for it all to go wrong again and then Deamon would come crawling back.

Still, he thought, at least he didn't need to go and hunt down Skye as well. He'd done both of the things on his to-do list in one go. True, they hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped, but at least his conscience was clear. With all his homework done and nothing else to do, Scorpius decided to go for an early lunch. He didn't want to see Deamon and Skye there later, either. Maybe Lavinia and Essie would be there though…

Scorpius had warmed to Lavinia and was quite glad they were together, but was still unsure how long it was last. He guessed she was way more into him than he was to her, but his feelings would surely get stronger. Yes. They _would._ She was beautiful and clever and sweet and a _great_ kisser, and she _liked_ him! He should feel honoured. He definitely shouldn't take her for granted.

He repeated this over and over, a silent mantra. He was honoured she liked him. He wouldn't take her for granted. Scorpius mouthed the words as he walked to the Great Hall, his stomach already rumbling. H was honoured she liked him. He wouldn't take her for granted. He was honoured she- "Scorpius, hey!"

Scorpius blinked. He had reached the Great Hall and looked round for who had called his name. "Over here!" he followed the voice and found Rose, sitting with a couple of girls at the Gryffindor table. He glanced at the Slytherin table and saw that Lavinia and Essie weren't there. Still, he hesitated. Rose was inviting him over to sit with her, there was nothing wrong with that. But it was the Gryffindor table… True, the houses had left behind a lot of their old prejudices, but that didn't mean the Snakes and the Lions were chums. "Come sit down, Scorpius!" Rose called again, and Scorpius knew he couldn't refuse.

He went and sat down. "Scorpius, meet my friends," Rose said. There was a girl with wavy, chestnut hair sitting on her left, who she identified as Charlotte Moss. The girl opposite Rose was Amy Flint, who had straight blonde hair with an electric blue streak in it. Amelia Fawley was sitting next to Amy with her black hair cut like a boys'. Rose patted the seat next to her, indicating Scorpius' should sit down. He sat, though rather reluctantly.

"I haven't seen you since the dance, Scor," Rose said. "Is it alright if I call you Scor? I've always said that nicknames are the first step towards a _great_ friendship. You can give me a nickname if you want. They all do," she indicated her friends with a sweep of her hand.

They all nodded. "I call her Know-It-All-Weasley," Charlotte volunteered.

"Ginger freak," Amy added.

Amelia smiled shyly at Scorpius. "She's Raincoat to me," she giggled. "It's a long story."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Feel free to give me a _nice_ nickname though, Scor," she said. "They're all bad examples of friends," Amy stuck her tongue out at Rose. "But I bet you'll be a great friend. Are you a great friend?"

Scorpius thought about Deamon. He'd thought he was doing the right thing, he really had, but maybe Skye was right… Maybe he should let Deamon figure things out for himself… Still, his heart was in the right place, and that's what counted, right? "I guess so," he said, unsure.

"Oh, I bet you're just being modest," Amy winked. Scorpius could have sworn there was something almost _flirtatious_ in the way she said it, and the way she was looking at him. "I'm sure, soon enough, you're going to be one of us, through and through."

Rose raised her goblet and clinked it against Amy's. "Here here!" she said, laughing.

Amy reached for Scorpius' goblet and poured some pumpkin juice into it, as if to make sure he would stay there. "So, Scorpius, what have you been doing this morning?" she asked.

Yes. She was definitely flirting. Scorpius was surprised. Four years of no interest in girls, and now there was Lavinia _and_ this Amy girl? He didn't know she was actually into him, of course.

She seemed like a very confident girl who flirted with everybody, but still…

He was saved from answering the question by the arrival of Lavinia and Essie. Without even making the conscious decision to, Scorpius leapt up from his seat and called out to her. "Hey, Lavinia!" she looked up from the sheet of parchment she and Essie had been studying, and waved happily at him. He saw her frown slightly when she realised he was at the Gryffindor table, and walked over to him, while Essie continued on to the Slytherin table.

When she saw the girls – very attractive girls, actually – he saw her eyes narrow a bit. She threw her arms around Scorpius and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey, baby," she purred, looking at the girls around him defiantly. "How come you're over here with…" she paused, as if being careful to choose the right word. "With these girls?"

Scorpius shrugged, unsure how to answer. Fortunately, Rose spoke for him. "I called him over," she said. Admittedly, maybe it wasn't fortunate. What would Rose say?

"I didn't realise you socialised with Gryffindors, Scorpius," Lavinia joked.

Again, Rose was the one who replied. "I met him at the Halloween Dance yesterday," she said nonchalantly. "My brother accidently knocked him over," the girls all laughed, and Scorpius wondered if Rose had recounted the story to them already.

Lavinia nodded, trying to act as if it didn't really matter much, but Scorpius could see the jealousy in her eyes. "It was when I'd gone back to check on Deamon," he told her. "We just said hi, then I went back to the common room."

He downed his pumpkin juice and stood up. "Shall we go back to the Slytherin table?" Lavinia perked up remarkably at this suggestion, while Scorpius saw Amy and Rose frown slightly, disappointed.

Still, if it would show Lavinia he cared more about her than them, it was worth their hurt expressions. "Sure," she said. "And could you check my Astronomy homework?" Scorpius nodded, and they walked over to where Essie was sitting.

As soon as they were out of earshot, the girls all started talking about him. They had, of course, already heard how Rose and Scorpius had met the night before. "Wow, Rose, he's _cute_!" Amy squealed.

Charlotte shrugged. "He's a bit pale," she said. "And I'm not a fan of boys with blonde hair. It's not manly."

Amelia laughed. "You don't think _anyone_ is 'manly'," she reminded Charlotte. "Except maybe _Dustin_," Amelia giggled as Charlotte turned bright red.

"Shut up, he'll hear you!" she whispered.

Rose rolled her eyes at them all. "Well it doesn't matter whether you think he's cute or not because, as you just saw, he has a girlfriend."

Charlotte's eyebrows shot up. "Do I detect a hint of _regret_ in that statement?" she teased. "Does somebody want a certain pale, blonde Slytherin for herself, hmm?" Rose smacked Charlotte on the shoulder.

"Don't be an idiot," she grinned. "You know he's nowhere _near _my type."

Amy, Amelia and Charlotte all shared knowing glances. "Are you still hung up on that Ravenclaw scum?" Amelia asked. Rose shook her head, but it was too late. "You are!" she exclaimed. "Rose, you know he's not your type. He shouldn't be anyway. He is _scum_, okay? He is really smart, really good looking scum!"

Charlotte shook her head at Rose, mockingly disappointed, and Amy tutted. Rose's cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"I know," she mumbled.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "But…?" she asked, sensing there was one coming.

Rose shrugged and looked away. "But the heart wants what the heart wants. Even if it's not what you expected."


	4. Monday, November 2nd

**A/N: I know this chapter is late again, but the QLFC has started again so I'm afraid you won't be getting very regular chapters for a while. I'll update when I can. I will be uploading a oneshot for the QLFC every other week, though. Sorry this chapter is short, but it was a natural ending point.**

_4 - Monday, November 2__nd_

Scorpius had not spoken to Deamon – or Skye – for the rest of that day. He had tried to, he had tried very hard, but Deamon could not be found anywhere. He'd stayed awake for as long as he could that night, but Deamon did not enter the dormitory, and eventually Scorpius fell asleep.

When he woke up on Monday morning, he saw that Deamon's bed hadn't been slept in. That meant either Deamon had been roaming the castle all night, or he had stayed in Skye's room. He wasn't sure how Deamon had got past the staircase-slide enchantment, but maybe it was negated when you were with a female who allowed you to go up. Having never had a girlfriend before, Scorpius had never needed to know.

Still, he went down to breakfast with the faintest hope that Deamon would be there.

His prayer was half-answered when he saw Skye there, eating alone. Feeling his rage re-emerging from yesterday, Scorpius stormed over to her. "Skye," he snapped. She dropped her forkful of scrambled eggs and turned to look at him.

"Scorpius," she nodded politely at him, then went back to her eggs.

Scorpius walked round the table and sat down opposite her. Sure, it took longer than just taking the seat next to her, but it was a lot more menacing for their little _talk_ if he could stare her in the eye without having to twist his body.

"Where's Deamon?" he asked her, after helping himself to a piece of toast.

Skye shrugged. "I haven't seen him since last night," she said breezily.

"Last night…" Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her. "Or this morning? I know he spent the night in your dormitory," he jabbed a finger accusingly at her.

For her credit, Skye seemed completely unfazed by this. "So what if he did?" she asked. And before Scorpius could reply, "And he was gone when I woke up this morning, anyway."

Scorpius frowned. "So you haven't seen him at all this morning? Not even at breakfast?"

She shrugged and squirted some ketchup on her sausage bap. "I don't know what to tell you, Scorpius," she said, with an air of nonchalance that showed she wasn't at all concerned at the unknown whereabouts of her boyfriend. Or whatever they were, anyway.

"Well listen, _Skye_," Scorpius spat, remembering he was angry at her. He was _angry_. "You'd better pray he's not hurt somewhere, because I will be blaming you."

Skye gaped at him. "Why would it be _my_ fault if he's gone and injured himself?"

"Because, if he _is_ hurt, it will probably be because he was trying to kill himself after _you_ rejected him again!" Somehow, Scorpius and Skye were both standing now, glaring fiercely at each other, their breakfasts forgotten.

"Well that would still be his own damn fault then, wouldn't it?" Skye practically screamed. "How the hell can you blame _me _for _him_ being such a douche that I have to break it off?" Scorpius threw his fork down onto his plate.

He jabbed a finger at her. "Well," he said coolly, his hot-headed anger subsiding but replaced with resentment and hate. "If you think like that – which you just admitted you do – then you should either try to _work out_ your problems or," he narrowed his eyes and smiled. "Or you need to break it off for good, and stop stringing him along. Because Deamon is my best friend, and I won't let you walk all over him. Understood?"

Skye must have sensed that Scorpius was _very _dangerous right then and would not have stood for anything else, for she did not try to argue. "Well, now I know where you are on this subject," she replied calmly. "That's good to know," then she picked up her plate and walked away down the table to sit with some Slytherin girls.

Scorpius sat back down and picked miserably at his toast. What had he gone and done now? First, he had let his anger take over and had _yelled_ at the girl his best friend sought after. Then he had practically _threatened_ her to basically stay away from him. Deamon would hate him forever once he found out.

Unless he never found out… If Skye did as he asked and left him alone, maybe she would never get an opportunity to, or see a reason to, tell him about their little fight.

But he knew he would never be so lucky. Skye would go back to him, continue to break his heart, and Deamon would hate Scorpius for trying to break them up.

Then, when Skye left him again – maybe eventually it would be for good – he would have nobody to comfort him because he had pushed away his best friend. Scorpius felt bad for him – until he remembered the things Deamon had said to him the other night. Deamon had insulted him and pushed him aside when Scorpius had tried to look out for him, and that wasn't something Scorpius could – or would – forget. Not until he got a proper apology.

His mind made up, Scorpius set off for potions class with his conscience clear.


	5. Wednesday, November 4th

_Wednesday, November 4__th_

Scorpius didn't think he'd ever gone this long before without speaking to Deamon. Sure, a couple of days may seem like not a long time, but Scorpius and Deamon… They were like peas and carrots. They _always_ made up.

But Scorpius was beginning to feel the first sharp stabs of doubt and regret. He'd tried to find Deamon, but it was clear the other Slytherin boy had been avoiding him. Scorpius had gone down to all his meals as early as he could and had hung around right up until the bell, but there had been no sign of Deamon, or Skye.

But he still had Lavinia to hang out with, and they were sometimes joined by Essie. Rose and her friends had waved him over a few times, but he had been with Lavinia at the time and – hating himself for it – pretended he couldn't see. He didn't want to be the Slytherin who went to sit with Gryffindors rather than his Slytherin girlfriend. He would _not_ be that guy, no matter how much he may or may not want to be.

On Wednesday evening, though, Lavinia was still in the library with Essie, finishing a star chart, so Scorpius went down to dinner alone. Rose waved him over and this time, he _did_ go to sit with her.

"Hey, blondie," Amy smiled affectionately at him. "How come you haven't sat with us for a while?" she put on a hurt expression which Scorpius _hoped_ was pretend. He still felt bad about it.

He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant about it. "Oh, I've just been sitting with Lavinia," he said.

Rose frowned. "She was the girl who came over at breakfast the other day?" she asked. Scorpius nodded. "_Ah_," she said, shooting her friends a significant look. "That explains it," they all giggled and now it was Scorpius' turn to frown.

"What are you talking about?" he asked suspiciously. Were they trying to imply something about Lavinia?

Amy giggled again and Scorpius remembered her flirtatious advances from last time he'd sat with the Gryffindor Girls. He almost wished he hadn't sat with them.

Almost.

"What have you been up to, anyway, Scor?" Rose asked cheerily. Scorpius knew she was trying to avoid answering that question, but he didn't really care.

He shrugged. "Schoolwork, homework…" he trailed off. "Lavinia," he added as an afterthought, shooting a playful 'I dare you to say something' glare at Amy, who twirled her hair and laughed.

Rose, noticing but choosing to ignore the tension between Scorpius and Amy, grinned happily. "Same," she said. "I don't think things really get going until the second term at Hogwarts, don't you agree?"

Any initial awkwardness quickly dissolved, and Scorpius was shocked when he realised they were almost the last people in the Hall. Had Lavinia been in? Probably. He looked over at the Slytherin table, but couldn't see her there. Casting a quick glance around the rest of the hall, he didn't see her anywhere else- Wait, was that her? No that's that Hufflepuff prefect…

Scorpius wasn't even sure why it mattered if she was there. If she had already gone to dinner and left again – which was probably what happened – then she definitely would have seen Scorpius deep in conversation with these Gryffindor girls. For the second time.

So if there was any damage from her seeing this, it was already done. He turned back to the girls, and his stomach dropped like a worm, suddenly released from a bird's mouth. Relieved for one second – until it realises it is plummeting to Earth so fast it will never survive. Lavinia stood next to Amy's chair.

That, in itself, wasn't bad. He was having a harmless conversation. She understood that, right?

Wrong.

Lavinia was glaring fiercely at him, her expression so sharp it could cut stone. Scorpius opened his mouth to say something, but his jaw just hung open when he realised he had nothing to say.

He closed it again after a second and stood up. What was her problem? Her eyes stayed fixed on his, travelling upwards as he stood up. Why was she so angry?

She wasn't there when he arrived, so he came and sat with his new _friends_. Yes, they are Gryffindor. Yes, they are girls. Yes, he supposed they were very pretty and maybe a bit too flirtatious, but what did that matter? They were his friends, weren't they? He wouldn't dream of cheating of Lavinia, surely she knew that?

He smiled at her as pleasantly as he could. "Did you get your astronomy homework finished?" she nodded curtly and jerked her head at the Slytherin table, which Scorpius took to mean that she wanted him to go over there with her. Scorpius said goodbye to the girls, they mumbled their responses while looking guiltily at the table – as if it was their fault his girlfriend was unfairly jealous or something – and then he followed her over there.

"Seriously, Scorpius?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot, although from the way the girls were looking at him, Scorpius had a feeling they could still hear.

He stared her down defiantly. He wasn't in the wrong here. "Seriously, _what_?" he asked.

Lavinia huffed like it should be obvious. "Seriously, you're sitting with those girls _again_, and after last time?"

Scorpius frowned. What had happened last time? Nothing, as far as he remembered… "What happened last time?" he asked.

"Do you not remember me telling you that I felt a bit jealous?" she asked incredulously.

"You never told me that!" Scorpius cried. "I definitely remember you _not_ telling me that!"

Lavinia rolled her eyes and Scorpius could have sworn she had muttered 'boys' under her breath. "Well I didn't actually _say_ it," she said. "But it was blatantly obvious from the way I was acting! The _girls_ all knew it," she pointed at Rose and her friends, who all nodded in confirmation and shrugged apologetically. "I had thought it was obvious," she continued, her voice sounding more hurt than annoyed, now.

Scorpius put his hands on Lavinia's shoulders and stared into her eyes, trying to look as sincere as possible. "Lavinia," he said slowly and quietly – he didn't _really_ want Rose and her friends listening in. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about with Rose and Amy and Amelia and Charlotte. They're just friends," he paused. "In fact, I'm not even sure that we _are_ friends or just… Mealtime acquaintances," Lavinia managed a small smile at that. "Point is," he continued, "You don't need to feel threatened because you are my _girlfriend_, and they are a few girls I've had a couple of conversations with when I couldn't find anyone else. Okay?"

Sighing heavily, Lavinia ran a hand through her straight black hair. "I know you wouldn't cheat on me, Scorpius," she said. "Sometimes I just- I don't know. I guess I just feel a bit worried, even though I know I shouldn't. It's fine. I'm not going to be one of those girls who stops her boyfriend from hanging around with other girls," she smiled up at him, feeling very proud of herself for being such a good, considerate girlfriend. "Now go, finish your breakfast," she smiled and waved him away, before going back to the Slytherin table.

Scorpius went, albeit a little hesitantly, back to the Gryffindor table and sat down again. Amelia smiled hesitantly at him, but Rose looked angrily at him. _Merlin_, Scorpius thought, _did I manage to annoy her too?_ After a second, though, he realised it was only playful anger.

"Mealtime acquaintances?" she asked, pretending to be offended. "Is that all we are to you, Scorpius?"

He laughed. "Well how would _you_ define our relationships?"

Rose thought for a moment as she scooped the last of the scrambled eggs onto her toast. "Pals," she said finally. Scorpius raised an eyebrow. Was that even a word? "Basically friends, but not quite there yet. Give it a few more mealtime chats and I might upgrade you to a chum."

"I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure _pals_ and _chums_ aren't words, Rose," Scorpius said. Rose shook her head.

"No, no, they definitely are," she assured him. "They might just be muggle words, though… My mum likes to teach me and Hugo about the muggle world, so we're not as hopeless as our dad," she laughed. "Mum says we can learn a lot from muggles. She says that witches and wizards don't need technology, but muggles do, and they're super advanced!" Rose looked quite proud at all her muggle knowledge, and Scorpius frowned slightly.

" But…" he searched for something to say that wouldn't come across insulting. "But muggles are useless. We don't need them," he said. Rose stared at him. "We're above them," Rose's eyes narrowed.

She glared at him. "Excuse me?"

He bit his lip. Wasn't her mum muggleborn? Maybe he shouldn't have got involved in this conversation… "Well… They can't do magic, but we can," he said simply. "So doesn't that make us better than them?"

Rose was aghast at such an idea. She was more than that. She was _angry_. The young Weasley girl leapt up from the table. "How dare you suggest such a thing!" she hissed. "I would have thought that in this generation, you would have been raised with better morals. But I guess I should have known better… once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy!" and with that, she slung her bag over her shoulder and marched away, leaving Scorpius and the other Gryffindor girls sitting there awkwardly.

"I really didn't mean it like that," he began, but Amelia huffed and ran after Rose. Charlotte and Amy looked uncertainly at each other. "Are you going to leave, too?" he asked warily.

Amy shrugged. "I know you didn't really mean it in an insulting way," she told him. "You can't help the way you've been brought up." She leant in closer to him. "But for the record, the more modern ideal is that muggles are great, wizards are great, blood isn't an important part of who we are. You don't want to sound like a Death Eater now, do you?" she laughed and Scorpius forced out a couple of chuckles.

Charlotte stood up. "Amy, I'd have thought you would have known better," she snarled, before leaving the hall in the wake of Rose and Amelia. Amy looked slightly taken aback by this.

"What's her problem?" she asked angrily. Scorpius bit his lip. It was like he'd just thrown a bomb in the middle of this friendship group.

He sighed. "I don't want to cause any problems," Scorpius said wearily. He'd really hoped he could be friends with these guys, but he'd known it would never last long. "You should go to Rose and the others," he told her. "And… Tell her I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend her or anything. It's just… How I've been brought up. I never questioned it, really, although I probably should have," and with that, he stood up and made his way back to the Slytherin common room.

His mind too busy thinking about that conversation to look where he was going, Scorpius almost walked straight into someone standing outside the Slytherin common room.

"Hey," Scorpius said, startled. He looked up at the boy standing there. "Sorry, I- _Deamon_?"

_**A/N: Yes, I know, very late, I'm sorry. Feel free to check out all of my other stories while you are waiting for an update. All two of you reading this.**_

_**In The Next Chapter:**_

_**-Scorpius and Deamon have a chat**_

_**-Rose gets upset**_

_**Feedback would make me update faster, just saying :)**_


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